Shipowners will be required to take care of their sunken property.

The Nairobi Convention on the Removal of Wrecks will enter into force on April 2015. (Nairobi wreck removal convention).

Shipowners and insurers will be required to cover any costs associated with ship accidents at a distance of up to 200 nautical miles from the coast, which will apply to countries that have signed the convention. They will be obliged to collect even containers spilled from the ships.

The convention states that its signatories should specifically discuss and approve agreements on how to deal with property that has got into the territorial waters of countries over a distance of 12 nautical miles. According to Lloyd's of London, an analyst firm, about 50% of accidents occur in coastal areas up to 12 nautical miles from the coast.

Currently, the Nairobi Convention has already been ratified by 10 countries. Lithuania is not among them. No country has included its waters at risk.

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